1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to knock-down furniture and particularly to a modular reconfigurable furniture carcass system which can be configured into any of a variety of different types and sizes of furniture including vertically and horizontally expandable bookcases, drawer chests, armoires, cabinets, and other pieces of furniture which have in common a box, called a carcass, into which shelves, drawers or doors are added according to its particular intended use, which furniture carcass comprises a bottom and top horizontal tie board or tie shelf, at least two vertical supports with vertical edge arrays of shelf-receiving spaced protrusions with notches formed between the protrusions, the vertical supports attached between the tie boards, at least one height adjustable horizontal planar member fitting in any of the mating notches, and other specific elements to form the desired piece of furniture.
2. Description of Related Art Including Information Disclosed Under 37 CFR 1.97 and 1.98
Most furniture is single use with rigidly permanently connected components structured of a specific size and shape for a specific use. Some prior art modular furniture units have some flexibility in terms of shape, but are generally limited in expansion capability and limited to a single type of use.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,865,126, issued Feb. 2, 1999 to Miranda, describes an adjustable expansible interlocking modular structural system and method. Interlocking modular elements are each formed by two side panels spaced apart in parallel face-to-face alignment sandwiching two protruding elongated elements spaced apart in planar alignment forming a slot therebetween. A series of interlocking modular elements stacked vertically in an alternating orthogonal array interlock with slots intersecting adjacent slots and panels to form a vertical structural support. In a preferred embodiment, the space between elongated elements is equal to the width of one elongated element. Each protrusion of each elongated element creates a tenon insertable in each mortice between elongated elements to form a coplanar vertical structural support. Alternately, second modular elements are formed with two spaced parallel side panels sandwiching a single elongated element protruding above and below the side panels. Horizontal slots are formed between side panels. First horizontal elements formed of a single rigid member slide into the horizontal slots and edge slots engage the side panels to lock them in. Second horizontal elements are each formed by two spaced apart planar aligned planks interconnected by a shorter plank leaving a slot at each end to engage orthogonally stacked modular elements. Sliding drawer-like storage elements may also be supported in the slots. Tie members interconnect vertical structural supports. A series of paired vertical structural supports with horizontal elements therebetween may be stretched out in one plane and in orthogonal planes. An adjustable brace element having at least one diagonal component connects between the top and bottom of the structure.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,562,776, issued Jan. 7, 1986 to Miranda, claims a modular expansible interlocking support structure. Rectangular planar support members are slotted and interlocked to form vertical support structures. Elongated members slotted at each end are interlocked into the vertical support structure in horizontal and vertical orientations. The system is expansible in aligned or angled planes between vertical support structures spaced apart by the length of the elongated members. Components are easily assembled into myriad structures and disassembled to stack flat for storage. Each rectangular planar support member is slotted on four edges and provided with a tab on one edge. When the planar support members are interlocked together they form a column cross-shaped in cross-section and having slots extending in all four directions. The structural system therefore may be expanded in any of these directions by inserting elongated members in the slots and by adding columns as desired for multidirectional multiform structures.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,675,979, issued Jan. 13, 2004 to Taylor, provides a furniture assembly system which utilizes upright members having a pair of protruding hook portions that cooperate with a similar pair of hook portions of another upright member and mutually interconnect through slots in a shelf to hold the shelf in place. A plug inserts into an aperture formed by the interconnecting hook portions to hold the upright members in place and secondarily to provide further support to the shelf.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,807,572, issued Apr. 30, 1974 to Luvara et al, shows an adjustable compartment size storage unit. The units may be divided into vertical and/or horizontal compartments by the use of universally-fitting partitions. In particular, the horizontal partitions are formed so as to be readily assembled or disassembled while still providing a structure that will support a substantial weight placed thereon. The units are designed to be used in conjunction with other similar units to form almost any desired configuration of compartments.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,806,438, issued Sep. 15, 1998 to Beaudet, provides an adjustable shelf system having vertical left and right end panels, one or more center panels, top and bottom panels for holding the end panels and center panels in spaced relation and a back panel. A plurality of shelves may be adjustably positioned at various levels between the end panels and center panels. Each of the end panels and center panels is formed with support loops that are interlockably engaged by insertable tabs formed on the left and right sides of each shelf Alignment tabs on each shelf side defined common left and right lower edges that guide the shelf into its proper position during assembly and subsequent re-positioning. The support loops on opposed vertical panels (e.g., the left end panel and the center panel) are structurally different and unique to the left and right sides of the shelf, respectively, so that the shelf can be insertably mounted in only a single orientation and at the proper depth within the shelf system.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,756,581, issued Sep. 4, 1973 to Albertini, puts forth cell-shaped assemblies of firing setters for individually and spacably supporting a plurality of tiles and other ceramic ware during the firing of the glaze in a firing kiln comprise upright wall components made of refractory material with laterally extending projections for supporting the tiles. Further, transverse or horizontal components, also formed of ceramic material, with complementary configurations for interengaging transverse components in a co-planar manner, are provided and interlink the top and bottom ends of the upright components with the edge portions of the transverse components affording an essentially loose interfitting engagement of the components to provide an assembly made of a plurality of superimposed and side-by-side located cells.
U.S. Pat. No. 7,686,173, issued Mar. 30, 2010 to Robinson et al, is for a modular shelving system including a number of separate, selectively inter-connectable pieces, and methods of assembling such a shelving system. The selectively inter-connectable pieces of the shelving system include vertical supports columns, cap shelves for attachment thereto, hanging rods, and adjustable shelves and drawers and selectively placeable support elements for supporting same.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,126,022, issued Oct. 3, 2000 to Merkel, discloses shelving consisting of components which are assembled with securing elements. The invention contains a frame having a back wall, a pair of side walls, a top wall and a bottom wall attached to each other with a plurality of tabs and corresponding slots located on the back wall, side walls, top wall and bottom wall. The back wall, side walls, top wall and bottom wall are constructed of folded material which provides rounded edges that limit damage to material stored on the shelf. A securing bore is located on each of the tabs and is milled to a particular diameter corresponding to the type of material used to construct the shelf and the load supported. A plurality of safety bars are inserted through the securing bore located on each of the tabs. The safety bars prevent the removal of the tabs from the corresponding slots and help secure the shelf. In addition, horizontal and vertical compartment divider may be attached to the frame using the same tab and slot method. The additional compartment divides allow for an unlimited number of compartments.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,695,190, issued Oct. 3, 1972 to Bucholz, indicates knockdown sectional shelving comprising a plurality of shelf units arranged one above the other and demountably interconnected and spaced by a plurality of connectors. Each of the shelf units comprises a horizontal shelf having a pair of vertical end pieces mounted, one on each end of the shelf and projecting above and below the same. One of the connectors is interposed between and bears against the end pieces of each adjacent pair of shelf units. Tongue and groove means demountably interconnect the end pieces and connectors. Where the end pieces are planar, the projections thereof constitute the tongues which cooperate with grooves on the connectors in interconnecting the two elements of the assembly. The shelving thus may be demountably assembled in various multiples and configurations to meet the requirements of contemplated end uses.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,861,327, issued Jan. 21, 1975 to Silson, illustrates a shelf support for a collapsible bookcase. The shelf support is a stackable, invertible H-shaped vertical member which has first and second vertical posts and first and second cross bars interconnecting said posts. The vertical posts and cross bars define a slot in the member through which a shelf may be inserted and supported. The slot is preferably located away from the center of the vertical post so that by inverting the support member, shelves of different heights may be made. The vertical posts also have mating portions on the ends to allow for stacking of the support member for multiple shelving.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,893,617, issued Apr. 13, 1999 to Lee, is for a connecting assembly for horizontal boards and wall boards of a cabinet. Each of the horizontal boards and wall boards is formed with clamping channels along lateral sides. The connecting assembly comprises upper T-blocks, lateral T-blocks, inner cross-blocks and L-shaped corner blocks each of which is formed by a vertical slat and at least one horizontal slat. One edge of the vertical slat is formed with shallow or deep dovetail notches at equal intervals. The dovetail notches have reversely inclined faces which are interlaced, or have inclined faces. The horizontal slat has corresponding dovetail tenons spaced from each other by a distance equal to or double that of the dovetail notches.
U.S. Patent Application No. 20070284974, published Dec. 13, 2007 by Buhrman, indicates a modular furniture system kit comprising interchangeable base panels, short side panels, tall side panels, at least one short back panel, at least one tall back panel, at least one horizontal divider, at least one short vertical divider, and at least one tall vertical divider. The base, side, and back panels, and the horizontal and vertical dividers, are selectively assemblable to form at least two disassemblable configurations, including a cubbie configuration and a locker configuration. In certain embodiments, the cubbie configuration includes the base panels, the short side panels, the short back panel, the horizontal divider, and the short vertical divider. Additionally, in certain embodiments, the locker configuration includes the base panels, the tall side panels, the tall back panel, the horizontal divider, and the tall vertical divider.
U.S. Patent Application No. 20050162051, published Jul. 28, 2005 by Madsen et al, puts forth a modular furniture system based on a fundamental building block. The building block, or cell, includes first and second end plates and at least one horizontal support beam. A plurality of stacked and/or side-by-side cells provide a framework that can be arranged in an almost limitless number of ways. The cells serve as both storage space and division between neighboring work spaces, thus conserving raw materials and recovering floor space. The cells further provide raceways for concealing electrical wires and data cables, and are adapted for supporting work surfaces and connecting to vertical panels. The cells are adapted to receive various storage components, such as drawers, which may be inserted from both a front side and a back side of each cell. The cells are also adapted to receive tiles, which may cover open sides of each cell and/or cover the end plates of each cell. The tiles may provide any of a multitude of different aesthetic and functional surfaces. A single cell or stack of cells may include a foundation for increased rigidity and sturdiness.
U.S. Patent Application No. 20060207957, published Sep. 21, 2006 by Chen, illustrates a user configurable stackable display. The display has shelves that can be variable in length with shelf ends that fit within corner pieces. The corner pieces can be arcuate-shaped, T-shaped, and cross-shaped. A locking mechanism such as a cam engages each shelf end such that the shelves are engaged to the corner pieces. A cover piece covers the corner pieces and hides the locking mechanism from view. Each shelf end will fit into the lips of the corner pieces and has one or more bores for receiving a cam bolt that engages the cams. A shelf end may include a raised section that fits within the lips of the corner pieces.
What is needed is a multiple use furniture system using the vertically and horizontally adjustable and expansible furniture carcass of the present invention.